Healthy Carrot Cake Muffins (Paleo + Gluten Free + Dairy Free)

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These healthy carrot cake muffins are SO moist and cakey, they taste like dessert for breakfast! With a lot of sweetness from ripe bananas and some coconut sugar but lots of healthy fats and fiber too. This muffin recipe is so moist and more filling than a lot of traditional muffins! I love to enjoy these for breakfast, a snack or a healthier dessert sometimes and I know you will too! So, if you love carrot cake and prefer paleo or gluten free muffins then, give these ones a try and please leave a comment below so everyone can see how you like them! Enjoy!

Carrot Cake Muffins

These healthy muffins are not only a delicious, sweet breakfast that everyone will love! But they’re also paleo, grain free, gluten free, dairy free, soy free and refined sugar free.

More Gluten Free & Dairy Free Breakfast

If you’d like to see even more gluten and dairy free breakfast ideas then, feel free to check out a few of these great ones!

Carrot Cake Muffins Ingredients:

Bananas (very ripe): It’s very important that your bananas are ripe because the more ripe, the more sweet! I mash them using a fork and that works well when they’re ripe and soft.

Eggs: I haven’t tried using an egg substitute in this muffin recipe but let me know how it goes if you try something!

Coconut oil: This is the oil I love in these muffins but, you can also try melted butter, or avocado oil for a more neutral taste.

Apple cider vinegar: This acid works with the vinegar to help the muffins rise well.

Vanilla extract: Of course, this extract provides a beautiful flavor and a small amount goes a long way.

Almond flour: Use blanched almond flour and not almond meal as it will change the texture of the muffins.

Coconut sugar: This ingredient is just for a little more sweetness but you can use less or leave it out completely if you prefer.

Tapioca starch: Just a little bit of this starch helps to bind these muffins and create an amazing fluffy texture.

Baking soda: The rising agent used in these muffins.

Cinnamon: This spice is a must for any good carrot cake.

Sea salt: Just a little bit of sea salt will bring out the flavors of the other ingredients.

Carrots: You can’t forget the carrots in carrot cake. Adding these make the muffins beyond moist!

Walnuts: Commonly added in carrot cake but, you can leave them out or swap them for another nut such as pecans.

Raisins: An optional ingredient but they add a great flavor especially when blended with the walnuts and shredded coconut.

Shredded coconut: Another fun texture and flavor used in many carrot cake recipes.

Muffins Simplified Instructions with Pictures:

Combine the wet ingredients in one bowl and the dry ingredients in another bowl.
Transfer the combined dry ingredients to the bowl of wet ingredients and stir until everything is ALMOST combined. This is when you’ll add in the grated carrots, and blended mixture of walnuts, raisins and shredded coconut.
Gently stir to fold in the ingredients but don’t overmix the batter.
Divide the batter evenly between 12 muffin cups (lined with paper liners or greased). Then, top with extra coconut sugar, and anything else you want such as chopped walnuts, coconut flakes, raisins, etc. Bake at 350 for 18-24 minutes or until done (a toothpick inserted comes out clean).

Carrot Cake Muffins Recipe (Gluten Free + Dairy Free)

Keyword: carrot cake muffins

Author: Adrianne from Bananasaboutlife.com

Yield: 12 muffins

Ingredients:

2 medium ripe bananas (mashed)(about 1 cup)
2 eggs
1/2 cup coconut oil (melted and cooled)
1 Tablespoon apple cider vinegar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 cups blanched almond flour
1/3 cup coconut sugar + more for topping
1 Tablespoon tapioca starch
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon sea salt

1/3 cup carrots (grated)
1/3 cup walnuts (optional)
1/4 cup raisins
1/4 cup shredded coconut

Instructions:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line a muffin tin with 12 paper liners or grease with oil.
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together mashed banana, eggs, melted coconut oil, apple cider vinegar and vanilla extract.
In a separate mixing bowl stir together almond flour, coconut sugar, tapioca starch, baking soda, cinnamon and sea salt. Make sure to break up any clumps in the flour to combine well.
Use a blender to blend walnuts, raisins and shredded coconut into a thick and chunky paste (this will add an amazing flavor without leaving a lot of large pieces in your muffins). Blending these additional ingredients, instead of adding them in whole, will also create amazingly moist muffins.
Transfer the dry ingredients to the bowl of wet ingredients and stir until almost fully combined. Then, gently fold in your grated carrots, and the blended walnuts, raisins and coconut shreds.
Divide the batter into 12 muffins and sprinkle more coconut sugar across the tops of the muffins along with any other toppings you want! I used some chopped walnuts and coconut flakes as well.
Place the muffins in your preheated oven and bake for 18-24 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
Store leftovers lightly covered in the fridge for up to 3-4 days.

Even More Healthy Breakfast Recipes:

Of course, you can never have too many healthy breakfast recipes, so here are a few more to check out!

Thank You For Visiting!

This post is a recipe for carrot cake muffins that are made paleo, gluten free and dairy free. If you make these muffins please, leave a comment below so everyone can see how they turned out! I’d love to hear what you think about the recipe too! Thank you for visiting my blog today and I hope the rest of your day is INCREDIBLE!